Verbs followed by Prepositions before an Infinitive

However, some Spanish verbs require a preposition before an infinitive. The following list shows the prepositions needed to link some common verbs with the infinitive.

Sueño con viajar.
I dream about traveling.

Verbs marked with an asterisk (*) take a for all direct objects, not just the usual “personal” a (e.g. Ayudan al desarrollo).

Verbs of motion such as ir, bajar, entrar, etc., always use a before an infinitive for destination, and de for origin: Vengo de hacer compras. Subió a ver al médico.

*animar a (algo) - encourage to acusar de - accuse of
*ayudar a (algo) - help to cesar de - cease from
*condenar a (algo) - condemn to comenzar a - begin to
consentir en - consent to convenir en - agree to
consistir en - consist of depender de - depend on
*contribuir a (algo) - contribute to empezar a - begin to
cuidar de - take care to forzar a - force to
*desafiar a (algo) - challenge to impulsar a - urge on to
dudar en - hesitate over insistir en - insist on
enseñar a - show how to; teach to llevar a - lead to
*incitar a (algo) - incite to invitar a - invite to
*obligar a (algo) - oblige to mandar a - send to
persistir en - persist on pasar a - go on to
*persuadir a (algo) - persuade to terminar de - finish
presumir de - boast about tratar de - try to
quedar en - agree to (used informally) soñar con - dream about
*renunciar a (algo) - renounce *tender a (algo) - tend to
volver a (hacer) - (do) again
acabar de: acabo de estar ahí - I’ve just been there
dejar de - leave off, stop doing something